The Annunciation

1594

Hendrik Goltzius

Associated Names
Hendrick Goltzius

Artist, Dutch, 1558 - 1617

Claes Jansz Visscher

Publisher, Dutch, 1586/1587 - 1652

The image shows two figures in the foreground. One is a woman seated on a low bench, facing to the right. She has a serene expression and her hair is covered. She wears a draped garment and her hand rests near her chest. The second figure is an angelic being kneeling on one knee, facing towards the seated woman. The angel has flowing hair, detailed wings, and holds a stem of flowers. In the background, there are cherubic figures among clouds with a radiant light at the center emanating from a dove. Beams of light surround the figures. A table on the left corner holds a book, a basket with circular objects, and some writing is visible.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen

  • Dimensions

    plate: 47.3 x 35.3 cm (18 5/8 x 13 7/8 in.)
    sheet: 48.2 x 36.1 cm (19 x 14 3/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2012.92.552

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    New Hollstein 1996, no. 8, State v/vi

  • Series Title

    The Life of the Virgin (Plate 1)

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Pasquale Iannetti Art Galleries, Inc., New York); Ruth Kainen, Washington, D.C., purchased February 9, 1990; Gift to NGA, 2012.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1921

  • Hirschmann, Otto. Verzeichnis des graphischen Werks von Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617) mit Benutzung der durch E.W. Moest hinterlassenen Notizen zusammengestellt. Leipzig: Verlag von Klinkhardt und Biermann, 1921. Reprint. Braunschweig: Klinkhardt &Bie; no. 9, iii/iv

1993

  • The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. (Hendrick Goltzius, Marjolein Leesburg, author). Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Interactive, 1996-, no. 8, v/vi

Inscriptions

in image, on a plaque at bottom centre: HG / Ao. 1594.; in image, numbered to left of plaque at bottom center: 1; in image, on plaque at bottom left: SERENISSIMO PRINCIPI, AC IL- / LVSTRISSIMO DNO, D. GUILIELMO. V. / COMITI PALAT. RHE. UTRIUSQ. / BAVARIAE DUCI, etc. / Ut mediis Proteus se transformabat in undis, / Formosae cupido Pomonae captus amore: / Sic varia PRINCEPS TIBI nunc se Goltzius arte / Commutat, sculptor mirabilis, atque repertor. / C. Schonaeus (To the exalted Prince and August Lord, the lord William V, Count Palatine and Duke of the two Bavarias, etc. As Proteus changed amidst the waves out of burning love for the beautiful Pomona, so does Goltzius, the admirable engraver and inventor, with his varied art, for you, Oh Prince.); below image, in plate: Pone metum virgo, celsi tibi nuncius adsum / Missus ab arce poli, paries intacta stupente / Natura, ut veterum cecinêre oracula Vatum, / Teque Dei matrem totus venerabitur orbis. (Be not afraid, girl, I am here, sent as a messenger from the kingdom of heaven on high; a virgin, you shall bear a child to the astonishment of nature, according to the predictions of the ancient Prophets, and the whole world will worship you as the mother of God); below image, in plate at right: CJVisscher excudit. / N. 47
[Latin translations from Leeflang, Huigen, and Ger Luijten. Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617): Drawings, Prints and Paintings. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 2003, p. 210.]

Wikidata ID

Q76557163

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